Welcome to the adventures of Peter Alistair Krause! This is going to be a quick first update as the library closes soon and won't be open again till Monday. Peter rushed into the world 10 days early - arriving at 1:03pm (mountain)on Wednesday 5/9/07. As most of you know, Peter was determined to have Down Syndrome and a heart condition during the pregnancy. Originally diagnosed with Transpostion of the Great Arteries, we felt our prayers were answered when the diagnosis was reversed to be Pink Tetrology of Fillot (sp?). The prayers around the world were further answered when at birth the condition was reversed once again and replaced with Ventricular Septor Defect (VSD) - a much more common and easier to repair condition. We have been told that while the possibility is slight, there is the chance that it will heal itself. However, based on the size they believe it will require surgery between 3 to 6 months. Please pray for another miracle to Peter's little heart! At birth Peter showed trouble breathing and maintaining his oxygen saturation levels. He was placed under an oxygen hood for what was believed originally to be a short period of time. While heart breaking to not be able to hold our child, we were hopeful it was for just a short period of time. Minutes turned to hours, and hours to days. I (Catherine) stayed with him at Penrose hospital praying for a speedy recovery. I will always be thankful to the wonderful health care providers at Penrose that watched and cared for Peter day and night while in the NICU. Peter had ups and downs and appeared to be moving in the right direction. Tuesday 5/15/07 Peter gave us a scare as his saturation levels dropped into the 40%'s and he turned blue. The nurses and doctor got him stabilized but it was concerning to all. That night his oxygen requirements continued to increase getting us close to the point where treatment options at Penrose would be exhausted. At 6am on 5/16/07 I was told he needed to be immediately transported to Children's hospital in Denver before it was too late. There are no words to express the primal fear I felt at the thought of loosing my child - and harder yet that I might loose him without ever holding him in my arms, looking into his eyes and letting him know how loved he is by all. Thanks to John and some fast acting friends Father Steve made it to the hospital to baptize Peter before the transport began. Close to 9am the "Flight for Life" crew arrived and prepared Peter for land transport. The confidence with which the three ladies handled him gave John and I the reassurance we needed that we would make it to Denver. I rode in the ambulance while John followed shortly behind. We arrived to Denver around 11am where the crew was ready to run all the tests on him and get him stabilized. We are incredibly thankful that my parents were able to reach their friends Pam & Jacinto Hernandez. Pam is a nurse and Jacinto a top neonatologist - formerly running Children's newborn/NICU. The day was long and exhausting...and a roller coaster of emotions beyond what words can express. Before the day was over Peter was in our arms and we were finally able to hold him, kiss him, touch his beautiful soft blonde hair and see his beautiful face that had been masked by a steamed up hood for the first 7 days of life. Now that he was finally in our arms it was hard to let him go! Coming so close to a loss beyond words, we have been reminded how fragile human life is and how much time we loose getting caught up in stuff instead of focusing on what really matters. This pregnancy has been teaching us little by little, and Wednesday was a test. John and I both just wanted to hold our 5 beautiful children in our arms at one time letting them know how much we love them and letting God know how thankful we are for the blessings he has bestowed on us. The last couple of days Peter seems to be headed in the right direction. He continues to struggle with "persistent pulmonary hyper-tension". His oxygen requirements seem lower and he has been trying (unsuccessfully till now) to breastfeed. He has taken some breastmilk through the bottle as well as through a feeding tube. He seems much more content with some food and was able to come off the IV yesterday. Early this morning he gave the nurses a scare with another episode like the one he had in the Springs. We know at this time he will be in the hospital for another 5 days at least as they want him to go for that amount of time without an episode. Their preference is also that he accept his feedings orally, but will consider discharging him if he needs part of his nutrition via a tube. We will play that one by ear. He will definitely be on oxygen for the next several months - we assume until the surgery and possibly for a period of time after that. There is still so much up in the air, that there are many questions we just can't answer yet. I did want to take the time to say THANK YOU! All you - our friends, family, friends of friends and family of friends for your prayers and support. We know that our little Peter is a gift from God given to us to care for....and as our wise pediatrician Dr. McCaffery always says - he will teach us the virtues of patience and humility - and he is already! Coming so close to loosing our little gift, we know he is still in our lives due to all the prayers raising up to heaven. THANK YOU! All we ask is that you continue to pray for Peter to recover, a miracle for his heart and thanksgiving for all the wonderful caregivers we have taking care of him. We ask that you keep our other children in your prayers. And, selfishly, ask that you continue to pray for John and I to have the wisdom and serenity to be good parents through these difficult times and beyond! One day I know Peter will give me the firsts I dream of - first smile, first step, first "mama" and so much more. I dream of taking him to the beach and seeing the look on his face as he feels the sand between his toes for the first time. I dream of watching him play in the back yard with Jack and Tommy who of course will constantly be saying "come on Peter!" I know these first will come in time thanks to God who is answering all our prayers. God bless you all! We will update you further next week. Love, John & Catherine
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